Tuesday's Tangent - trees

When we first arrived in Australia, I was amazed at how different the trees look.  To me, they look a little odd, not at all like the rectangular brown truck w/ the circular greet top that I saw and know from my 30-odd years of living. 

Actually, I've always thought that Dr. Seuss must have visited Australia because the trees here remind me of the trees in many of his books.... (look here) ...trees that have tall, thin trunks with puffs of leaves at the ends of scattered branches.


But, as I walk around these days, the trees just look normal...  like that's just how trees are suppose to look...  When did my maples and oaks get replaced by eucalyptus and gum trees?

 

looks about right, eh?

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a bit of Aussie goodness...

I've learned to eat sandwiches a little differently since moving to Aus. 

We had lunch a couple weeks ago with a family who lives down the street.  Set out with all the 'regular' sandwich fixin's (like meat, cheese, tomato, lettuce) were cucumber slices and beetroot slices!!  Who would do such a thing...

But I like cucumber and beets, so I gave it a 'go'.  And the results were stupendous!!  A little extra crunch and a bit of sweet added to my wonderful lunch.  :-)  WooHoo!!!

Now, a sandwich just isn't a sandwich without the tangy taste and tantalizing crunch of beetroot and cucumber on my sandwich.  mmm, mmm, good.  ;-)

Flashback Friday - Loving on Riley, 2000

Little Brenna, Age 2 

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Where ever we go, if little ones are around, she becomes a 'Pied Piper'. 

She's drawn to small kiddos, and they follow her around.

I'd guess it started here...

when we started watching our little neighbor three days a week.

Although Brenna was just two, she was a big helper!

Neither of the Griffith kids have lost their touch with the little ones....

it just takes longer to warm up to the big one.  ;-)

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on a side note, I miss Riley's mom. 

She was a great friend and a fun neighbor.

I'm sure she still is... just not livin' next to me.  :-(

Thankful Thursday - sunhats and aloe

The sun is hot in Australia.  They say (no, i don't really know who 'they' are, but they do say!) that the sun's rays/effects are stronger here than in the states.  You really can't go outside without one of my new best friends, sun block. 

But I now have a couple new friends this summer.  The first is 'Ms. Sunhat'.  I had no idea there were so many styles of hats, nor that some had better SPF ratings than others.  My new sunhat has a 50+ SPF rating.  (no idea what that exactly means, but bigger is better!)  AND it's cute!  I'm not a hat person.  My sister is, she looks cute in any type of hat, but me, not so much.  So finding a hat that looks cute on me, is a big plus! 

Here's the big news...  my friend Ms. Sunhat doesn't work, if i don't wear it.  Who would have guessed??  But, wearing hats in the hot sun is... well, it's hot...  and i'm not fond of hot.  hmmm....

Which brings me to my second friend... aloe!  He comes to the rescue when I neglect my first friend.  Isn't that sweet of him?  ;-) 

So, I'm working on building my connection w/ Ms. Sunhat, trying to spend more and more time w/ her... and reconnecting w/ Mr. Aloe, who is a very steady and helpful guy.  Hopefully, I won't need to rely on him much in the future.

Brenna's wearing her cute sunhat...  guess i misplaced mine

(really, it was so hot, i don't know how anyone kept a hat on! ugh!)

Shawn and his sunhat... where did mine go??

Both pics take on Australia Day while we were in Wollongong enjoying the festivities.

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Wordless Wednesday - ahhh....

Tuesday's Tangent - bandaids

I like band-aids.  They come in so many shapes and sizes.  You can also find fun, colorful, and even character band-aids. 

When I was younger, I liked putting on band-aids just for fun.  The most memorable occasion when was I was about 16.  Just put a cute Care Bear band-aid on my hand and caused some fun conversations. 

That Care Bear band-aid came from my sister's stash.  She also loved putting them on, as did both of my children.  Sometimes they'd have a plethora of band-aids covering their body for big, little, and non-existent boo-boos. 

Although they're created for a particular purpose, covering wounds, band-aids are useful in other ways too.  A sweetly given band-aid can ease any childhood injury, it doesn't have to be open or have blood.  It eases pain just in the offering.  Sharing a 'fun' band-aid can bring smiles and joy, making someone feel special as well.  Wearing silly band-aids can start a conversation. 

I like band-aids. 
For something quite small, it can do so much.

The end of summer....

Summer ends in two days for the kids.  I can't believe that summer break is almost over!  What a difference it seems to make celebrating Christmas and New Year's in the midst of summer vacation.  Or so it seems to me.  It's a shock that school is starting again in just a couple days. 

But it's been a lovely summer.  We've spent time with family friends, had some lazy days, and gone camping.  The kids have been to friends' and had friends over.  They've gone to movies and cooled off at the beach.  They've even started to learn to surf, thanks to a good Aussie friend.  (sadly, I'm the only one who hasn't had a 'go' at surfing yet... but my time will come...)

Here's a few pics from our summer fun!

A family outing to Wollongong harbour with a lovely walk.

Darian and Brenna enjoying some time together playing cards.

Visiting with friends at the Dapto Community Carols.

(yes, one's a Canadian)

Enjoying the sun and the crowd at the carols.

We've got our song books out ready to join in.

A special time of worship with the Mullins.

A quick pic before the New Year's Eve fireworks in Wollongong.

A first surfing lesson from Greg.

Getting ready to ride the wave...

Looking like he's done this before.

Enjoying a quiet afternoon relaxing and reading in the backyard.

Shawn on his first outing w/ Greg.

For the record, it's summer, the break, that's over... not summer, the season.  The season's going strong and has several weeks, or a couple months left it in.  ;-)

Flashback Friday - White Water Rafting '07

Today would be a perfect day to revisit our adventures in 2007.

(as today is hot, hot in the Illawarra... and at 9 this mornin' warm winds were blowing!)

Jane and I took the kids white water rafting in the hills of North Carolina!

It was such a great trip!  We all had so much fun.

It isn't too far back, but it's a great memory!

I'm ready for another trip!

Thankful Thursday...

Sometimes it's a challenge to be thankful for the little things...  that's what this is mostly about.  The unexpected, or even silly/odd, things to be thankful for... things that might not be thanked often... or maybe just special moments of thanks for the usual suspects.  ;-) 

When we were making a couple batches of peanut butter balls before Christmas, I brilliantly burnt my lip w/ some very hot melted chocolate.  It even blistered!  ouch! 

Which made be very thankful for ... Blistex cream!  So glad I had some from the states... and happy to find some here too.  It helped the pain and healing in my sore lip.  Thanks for the great way men's minds can create and solve problems.  And help my ow-ies. 

Brenna and Darian making peanut butter balls!  :-) 

Their friends and ours enjoyed the treat! yummm

Wordless Wednesday